Week 2: Top Performers
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Week 2 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete and we saw many fantastic individual performances. Here are the top performers from Week 2 (listed in alphabetical order): Trey Archuleta Trey Archuleta 5'9" | 165 lbs |…
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Continue ReadingWeek 2 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete and we saw many fantastic individual performances. Here are the top performers from Week 2 (listed in alphabetical order):
Trey Archuleta Trey Archuleta 5'9" | 165 lbs | QB Escalante | 2024 State NM , Escalante: The Lobos bounced back from a Week 1 loss to West Las Vegas by blanking Tohatchi, 28-0. Archuleta threw for 86 yards and ran for 98 yards and 3 TD.
Omar Argott, Hobbs: The Hobbs offense is rockin’ and rollin’ through the first two games and Argott is leading the charge. In the Eagles’ 69-48 win over Artesia, Argott completed 15-of-22 passes for 253 yards and 6 TD. He also rushed for 148 yards, joining RB Diego Baeza Diego Baeza 5'5" | 160 lbs | RB Hobbs | 2023 State NM in the 140+ yard club. Baez had 148 yards rushing and 3 TD on 18 carries.
Diego Avila Diego Avila 5'6" | 160 lbs | RB Belen | 2024 State NM , Belen: Avila rushed for 3 TD in the first quarter as the Eagles jumped out to a huge first quarter lead and were never threatened thereafter in a 52-0 victory over Manzano Thursday night.
Jarvis Begay, Shiprock: Begay scored 4 TD – 2 rushing, 1 passing and 1 punt return – as Shiprock snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 28-12 victory over Crownpoint.
Jack Bumgardner, Santa Teresa: Rushed for 120 yards on 20 carries in a loss to Mayfield.
Aden Chavez Aden Chavez 6'5" | 210 lbs | QB Cibola | 2023 State NM , Cibola: In his first start for Cibola since returning to New Mexico from Florida, Chavez looked like he had never left, throwing for 359 yards and 3 TD on 22-of-36 passing. Two of his TD throws went to Marcus Wilson while the other was caught by Branden Castillo Branden Castillo 5'9" | 145 lbs | WR Cibola | 2023 State NM . With Chavez and a talented group of receivers leading the way, Cibola is a title contender.
Paul Cieremens, Los Lunas: Cieremens is well established as one of the top dual threat QBs in the state, and his skills were on display again in a 43-30 win at Alamogordo with 116 passing yards and 104 rushing yards.
Creed Chavez, St. Michael’s: One of the top all-around players in northern New Mexico, Chavez had 6 receptions for 109 yards, including a huge 20-yard catch on the game-winning drive, and 107 yards in kick returns to spark the Horsemen over Capital, 28-24.
Ciyllis Cole-Roy, Miyamura: Even though the Patriots fell to Silver, Cole-Roy amassed nearly 100 total offensive yards
Cole Conway Cole Conway 6'3" | 230 lbs | RB Albuquerque Academy | 2023 State NM , Albuq. Academy: After being held to just 1 yard rushing in the first half, Conway had 118 rushing yards in the second half and scored two third-quarter touchdowns as the Chargers beat Moriarty, 20-7, in an early-season Class 4A showdown.
Brian Coyle Brian Coyle 6'3" | 200 lbs | DL Mayfield | 2024 State NM , Mayfield: The Trojans DE had 10 tackles, 2 sacks and a blocked punt in Mayfield’s 24-7 win at Santa Teresa.
Layton Gillis Layton Gillis 5'8" | 150 lbs | RB Hatch Valley | 2023 State NM , Hatch Valley: The Hatch Valley Hercules rushed for 132 yards on 22 carries and scored 2 TD in a 14-14 tie with Hope Christian Saturday afternoon. He has 277 rushing yards in the first 2 games.
Jesse James Gonzalez, Robertson: The best name in New Mexico high school football sparked Roberson’s 20-7 victory over Cobre with 217 rushing yards and 2 TD on 34 carries. He has 241 yards on the ground in the first two games.
Mikah Gutierrez Mikah Gutierrez 5'8" | 160 lbs | RB Centennial | 2023 State NM , Centennial: Gutierrez has emerged as a 2022 New Mexico Heisman favorite with a sensational start to his senior season. A week after gashing the Cleveland defense time after time, Gutierrez ran for 183 yards and 4 TD against El Paso (TX) Franklin, one of the top high school football programs in Far West Texas.
Marcquis Henry Marcquis Henry 5'9" | 175 lbs | QB Aztec | 2023 State NM , Aztec: The Tigers’ senior QB passed for 225 yards while completing 19-of-27 passes in a loss to cross-border rival Montezuma-Cortez. His favorite target was WR Baylor Seabolt Baylor Seabolt 5'11" | 165 lbs | RB Aztec | 2024 State NM , who made 8 receptions for 116 yards.
Jeremiah Jaquez, Hobbs: The Eagles’ receiving corps was led by Jaquez, who had 171 receiving yards and 3 TD on 7 receptions. He averaged an impressive 24.4 yards per reception.
David Llanez David Llanez 5'8" | 135 lbs | RB Bernalillo | 2023 State NM , Bernalillo: The Spartans were blanked by Valley in their season opener but Llanez, nicknamed ‘Rocket,’ made sure it wouldn’t happen again as he rushed for 203 yards and 3 TD on just 12 carries in Bernalillo’s 36-6 road win over Espanola Valley.
Alex Lopez, Highland: The Hornets’ sophomore QB ran for 3 TD in a 38-14 win over St. Pius X.
Taven Lozada Taven Lozada 6'4" | 220 lbs | TE St. Michael's | 2023 State NM , St. Michael’s: The Horsemen’s 6-foot-5 tight end was our nominee for Breakout Player of the Year and so far he’s doing just that. He had 6 catches for 130 yards and 2 TD in a hard-fought 28-24 win over city rival Capital.
Dane Naylor Dane Naylor QB Carlsbad | 2023 State NM , Carlsbad: The Cavemen stuck to the ground game in their 35-28 win over Goddard. Naylor rushed for 180 yards and 2 TD on 24 carries while attempting just 6 passes as Carlsbad’s QB. Eli Asay Eli Asay WR Carlsbad | 2023 State NM ran for 112 yards on 16 carries.
Noah Nelson Noah Nelson 5'11" | 170 lbs | DB Rio Rancho | 2024 State NM , Rio Rancho: Stymied by the La Cueva defense in Week 1, Nelson and the Rio Rancho offense got going in a 34-17 win over Eldorado. Nelson threw for 136 yards and rushed for 147 yards on 16 carries. Five different Rams players scored TD in the win.
Elliot Pasket-Bell, Volcano Vista: Pasket-Bell led the way from his QB spot as the surging Hawks amassed 460 yards in total offense in a 50-20 victory over West Mesa at Community Stadium. He passed for 2 TD and for over 100 yards in the first half alone as Volcano Vista built a 35-6 led at intermission.
Manny Sedillo, Atrisco Heritage: The Jaguars mercy-ruled Ro Grande, 52-0, as Sedillo caught five passes for 108 yards and 2 TD. Atrisco has four legit weapons at the WR position: Latavious Morris, Marquise Renfro Marquise Renfro 5'11" | 160 lbs | WR Atrisco Heritage | 2024 State NM , Diego Winnikoff Diego Winnikoff 6'2" | 155 lbs | WR Atrisco Heritage | 2023 State NM and Sedillo.
Ryan Sharpe Ryan Sharpe QB Bloomfield | 2023 State NM , Bloomfield: The Bobcats’ senior QB completed 11 of 17 passes for nearly 200 yards and four touchdowns in Bloomfield’s 56-6 home win over Pojoaque Valley. Sharpe is off to a tremendous start with a 65.9 completion percentage (29-44) and 10 TD passes in 2 games.
Stratton Shufelt Stratton Shufelt 6'3" | 220 lbs | LB Cleveland | 2024 State NM , Cleveland: The state’s top 2024 prospect led the Storm’s defensive charge in the 33-29 win over La Cueva with 13 tackles and 1 TFL. His performance came one week after he had 18 tackles, 3 TFL and 1 QBH in the loss to Centennial. He has been offered by Colorado.
John Sierra John Sierra 6'2" | 210 lbs | LB Centennial | 2024 State NM , Centennial: Sierra is one of the top linebackers in southern New Mexico and he proved it in Centennial’s huge win over El Paso (TX) Franklin by collecting 14 tackles, 3 TFL and 1 INT. Centennial is solid defensively in addition to being explosive offensively. That’s why they’re currently the No. 1 team in NM.
Christian Valenzuela Christian Valenzuela 5'11" | 300 lbs | DL Organ Mountain | 2023 State NM , Organ Mountain: He spearheaded the Knights’ stellar defensive effort at Deming as he collected 7 tackles, 3 TFL and forced three fumbles. He dominated in the trenches.
Dax Vigil Dax Vigil 6'2" | 155 lbs | DB Piedra Vista | 2023 State NM , Piedra Vista: A two-way star for the Panthers, Vigil had two interceptions in their 14-12 win over Sandia. His second interception halted a potential game-winning drive by the Matadors in the final minutes. Vigil played a huge role in limiting the production of Sandia RB Malachi Thymes Malachi Thymes 5'8" | 165 lbs | RB Sandia | 2023 State NM . He also threw a TD pass.
Cayden Walton Cayden Walton 5'9" | 180 lbs | RB Raton | 2023 State NM , Raton: Rushed for 249 yards and 3 TD on a staggering 37 carries to key Raton’s 33-30 home win over Guymon (OK). Added 13 tackles on defense. With 603 rushing yards through 2 games, Walton is the nation’s No. 4 rusher in terms of yardage and has the third highest number of carries among the Top 10.
Tazhe Wilson, Valley: Even though Valley lost by a wide margin to Cibola, Wilson had 157 all-purpose yards for the Vikings.
Eljan Woods, Eunice: The defending Class 2A champions rebounded from a Week 1 loss to Raton with a 41-12 win over Estancia as Woods rushed for 110 yards on just 8 carries.
Evan Wysong Evan Wysong 5'10" | 165 lbs | QB Cleveland | 2023 State NM , Cleveland: Wysong ran for a 68-yrd TD early in the Storm’s thrilling 33-29 win over La Cueva, later added a 12-yard TD run and connected with WR Andres Armijo Andres Armijo 6'2" | 180 lbs | WR Cleveland | 2023 State NM for a 43-yard score as Cleveland bounced back from the Week 1 loss to Centennial.